Jouquet Pascal auteur aut IRD Airola E. auteur aut IRD Guilleux N. auteur aut IRD Harit A. auteur aut IRD Chaudhary E. auteur aut IRD Grellier S. auteur aut IRD Riotte Jean auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access Despite the acknowledged roles of termites in tropical ecosystems, the majority of published studies of epigeal mounds still address the African fauna and are principally concerned with spatial patterns and putative inter-colony competition, rather than the links between parent soil properties and mound establishment. Further, information about the effects of habitat disturbance, and especially fragmentation, is lacking. This study assessed the abundance and distribution of the cathedral- and lenticular-type aboveground mounds of fungus-growing termites (Macrotermitinae), which are a common feature of South Indian woodlands, in relation to soil properties (vertisol vs. ferralsol) and habitat fragmentation (forest vs. highway margins). Mound abundance averaged 3.5 (standard error, SE 0.8) ha(-1) (cathedral) and 12.9 (SE 2.1) ha(-1) (lenticular), but was not influenced either by soil properties or disturbance. However, the volume of soil stored in the mounds varied between 27 (SE 8) m(3) ha(-1) (ferralsol) and 47 (SE 6) m(3) ha(-1) (vertisol). At the watershed scale, such volumes are equivalent to a 3.1-mm layer of soil if spread evenly across the landscape, roughly the same as the estimated erosion over the life of a typical mound. Significantly more nutrients were stored in lenticular mounds, especially on the vertisol, but the significance of these at the ecosystem level was considered small. In conclusion, this study suggests that termite mounds, and especially lenticular mounds, have a significant impact on soil dynamics at the watershed scale but a limited impact on the distribution of C and nutrients. specialized spatial distribution termite mound C and nutrient stocks ferralsol vertisol habitat fragmentation India INDE 074 20 4 769-780 2017 1432-9840 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010070072 10.1007/s10021-016-0060-5 1432-9840 [F B010070072] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010070072 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2017/06/010070072.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2017-07-03 2023-07-11 fdi:010070072 fre